By PAUL BEITLER
FORT WAYNE — It was a good day overall for Bluffton High School sophomore Levi Johns, who qualified for the second straight year for the Indiana High School Athletic Association’s State Wrestling Finals.
Johns, who placed eighth in the state last year as a 106-pounder, finished Saturday’s New Haven Semi-State as a second-place finisher in the 113-pound class.
In the first round that began at 8:30 a.m. at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Johns had no problem with Garrett’s Jakob Jones, who he pinned in 1:54. That moved Johns into the second round — “the ticket round.”
Again, Johns had no difficulty in beating North Miami’s Braylon McIntire by a 10-0 major decision, which punched his “ticket” into the state finals.
The State Finals begin on Friday, Feb. 17, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis with the Parade of Champions (all competitors introduced by their school name), which is set to start at 1:30 p.m. Gates open at 12:30 p.m.
The first session is split into two rounds. The first round is divided into weight classes 106 through 145 pounds and starts at 2 p.m. The second round includes weight classes 152 through 285 pounds and starts at 5:30 p.m.
The winners from each of the 14 classes on Friday will advance to Saturday’s action. The losers are eliminated from the tournament.
On Saturday, Feb. 18, the second session begins with the quarterfinals at 9 a.m. Gates open at 8 a.m.
All quarterfinal spectators will be cleared from the fieldhouse, and the third session will follow with the consolations beginning at 4:30 p.m. Gates open at 3:30.
The state championships will begin at 7:30 p.m. Eight medals will be presented in each weight class.
Admission for the state finals is $15 per session or $25 for all sessions.
By eliminating McIntire, Johns advanced to the semifinals, and he downed Maconaquah junior Brayden Raber (35-7) by a 6-0 decision.
In the 113-pound finals, Johns (39-3) came up against undefeated Kokomo junior Jalen May.
Johns and May were no strangers. To be exact, the two faced each other in the finals of the semi-state at 106 pounds, and May, who was wrestling for Peru last year, pinned Johns in that match.
May, who placed fourth in last year’s 106-pound state consolations, dealt Johns a 12-4 major decision loss in the rematch to up his record to 43-0.
“(Levi) did have a good day,” said Bluffton Tigers’ head coach Ben Sprunger. “May is a tough kid. He is really good on his feet and just beat us on his feet, but (Levi) wrestled a better match this year than he did last year, which is showing signs of improvement,” Sprunger added. “He’s getting better. He walked through the tournament all the way to the finals and then had a really tough kid — ranked in the top five in the state (at 113). The kid he wrestled is legit. We’re proud of (Levi). He did everything he was supposed to do. We worked on some things this week, and he really made some adjustments and looked really great his first three matches. Even against May, he stopped a couple of those shots that we wanted to stop, but he just couldn’t stop them all, and (May) got the best of us,” said Sprunger.
“It was a good day,” said Johns, who did not allow any points to be scored against him in his first three matches Saturday. “I was hoping to do a little better than what I did last year, but I just couldn’t defend (May’s) shot.”
Johns is looking forward to the state finals again.
“It’s a great accomplishment. It’s everyone’s ultimate goal really to be down there in front of the crowd and be under the lights,” said Johns.
Johns was the only wrestler of seven from Wells County who got out of the semi-state this year.
Norwell originally had three make semi-state, but the Knights got a late re-entry into the semi-state tournament on Saturday.
On Friday night, coach John Johnson was contacted by Jay County High School and was informed that its wrestler in the 120-pound weight class could not compete. Therefore, Norwell freshman Connor Fojtik was called up to take his place. However, Fojtik lost in the first round Saturday to Angola’s Isaiah McCue by a decision.
Also in the first round at 106 pounds, Norwell freshman Hunter Douglas (30-4) suffered a 6-2 loss to Manchester freshman Rex Moore.
Senior teammates Stuart McCabe (16-11) and Tyler Luther (29-13) also were ousted in the first round. McCabe was pinned in his 182-pound match by Kaden Lone of NorthWood, while Luther lost 8-3 to Bishop Luers’ Mickey Daring at 195.
Coach Johnson was proud of his two seniors. He tried to get McCabe to come out for wrestling in middle school, but he finally started wrestling as a sophomore in high school.
“(McCabe) fell in love with it,” said Johnson. “He’s worked harder than anybody in that (wrestling) room, and it shows off by making the semi-state in his senior year.
“For Luther, I think it’s his third time to semi-state,’’ said Johnson. “I’m super proud of (McCabe and Luther) for the careers that they have had.”
For Bluffton, senior Levi Kahn (32-8) lost his first match in the 170-pound class to Columbia City’s Tanner Reed by a decision. Junior teammate Juan Cruz (36-3) was eliminated in the first round of the 285-pound class by DeKalb freshman James Hartleroad in a close 3-2 decision.
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